Electric regulating device.



No.855,723. PATENTED JUNE 4, I907. J. F. MOELROYD- ELECTRIC REGULATING DEVICE. APPLIOATJON FILED JULY'm. 1905.

WNW

UNITED 'srarwr rnnr OFFICE,

JAMES F. MoELRoY; or ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATED OAR HEATING COMPANY, OF ALBANY, NEW

WEST VIRGINIA.

and accompanyingdrawing illustrate the invention in a form which I now regard as the best out of the various forms in which it may The accom anyingdrawing illustrates my invention in iagram.

' In operation of dynamos, particularly those running at a variable speed, as when driven by the axle of a railway vehicle, it is desirable to adjust the output of the machine,

particularly in such a way as to maintain a constant voltage on the supplied system. To this end, in apparatus heretofore devised and patented by me, I have em loyed a magnet responding to that factor o the current energywhich it is desired to maintain constant and acting, upon any departure from the constant value desired, to set into operation an electric motor which, in turn, serves to move the contact arm of a rheostat included in'the field magnet circuit of the d amo. Thus, assuming that the magnet a oresaid is a shunt magnet measuring the potential or voltage of the dynamo, and that upon either sideof a certain critical voltage it acts to close the circuit of a motor in one direction or the other, it will serve, through the agency of the said motor, to maintain the voltage of the dynamo at the aforesaid critical point, since any tendency of the voltage to increase will be neutralized by an increased amount of resistance in .the field magnet circuit of the motor and any tendency to decrease will be in a similar manner I neutralized by a decreased amount of resistance in the said field magnet circuit, the field magnet becoming weaker or stronger in inverse ratio to the dynamo speed.

In the arran ement just described I have heretofore emp oyed a motor of a voltage corresponding in the usual way to the voltage of the operating circuit. It will be observed however that the motor is in series with its controlling contacts operated by the ma net and also that it is important that, Whfie the voltage is being restored to its nor- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 10,1905. Serial No. 268,925.

YORK, A CORPORATION OF ELECTRIC REGULATING DEVICE.

Patented June'4, 1907.

mal value by the regulating action, the'rhotor should continue to operate the resistance until the normal voltage is fully restored, when the magnet armature will comeback to its normal position and so break the motor circuits at the contacts. I have found, however, that this action is a gradual one and that the magnet tends to reduce gradually the pressure between the contacts and even separate them before the normal conditions have been fully restored. This tends toform an are at the contacts which I have discovered may so reduce the voltage a plied to the motor that it will cease to act efore normal conditions are restored and that in such a case the arc may persist and injure the contacts so that the efiiciency of the contacts is seriously impaired. It also affects the voltage on the lamps. I have also found that the load on the motor is a variable one, the apparatus when freshly oiled running more easily than at other times which serves to increase the arcing tendency just mentioned.

While in a paratus of this kind the normal voltage of the motor which ordinary practice would dictate is not ino erative and has been heretofore used in my ighting system, yet this trouble is sufficiently serious to, call for a remedy that will insure a more constant and certain voltage on the lamps and avoid the injury to the contacts. v

The difiloulty above mentioned I have overcome by so constructing the motor that the current therein will give the maximum torque required by the rheostat at a voltage very materially less than the normal voltage on the system. For example, if the normal voltage is 70 I so construct the motor that it will operate at 30 volts, which will give an allowance of 40 volts for the arc and such resistance as may be present in the contacts when they are separated gradually by the gradual return of the voltage to its normal value. In other words my so-called 30-volt motor is one wound with such resistance that when connected to a 70-volt circuit and blocked against rotation, its maximum torque (ampere-turns) will be the same as that due to a line pressure of 30-volts on the 70-volt motor unblocked and free to generate its counter electromotor force. This gives my new o0-volt motor an even higher Y resistance than my old- 70-volt motor. Of'

course the'contacts are still separated gradually as the voltage gradually returnsto its normal point; but the effect. of such gradual separation upon the movement of the motor has been eliminated. The motor travel becomes sharply defined, though the contact movements are not. The motor will not make its full run, corresponding to the degree of the tendency to departure from normal line voltage occasioned by variation in train speed or demand for current, and the motor speed (under-the limitation ofthe-centril'ugal' circuit-breaker) will bethe same, whether the apparatus: has been freshly oiled or whether the bearingshave. beencoated with the fine dust inseparable from railway service. There no longer exists: the correspondence between thediminishing contact pressure as the regulator magnet comes back to its normal or satisfied condition and the diminishing power of: the motor:

of' the normal point is overcome-and adefinite clear-cut action of the regulator is insured'. It serves moreover toincrease the accuracy of the controlling magnet.

Turning to-the accompanying diagram, A-

represents anarmature of a variable speed dynamo, for example, adynamo driven by I the axle of arailway vehicle.

B is the-field magnet of thedynamo ahd-O is a rheostat in series therewith. The field magnet is in a shunt circuit starting from the commutator brush- 1 and passing through the field magnet coil B and the rheostat C to the rheostat contact E and thence by the Wires 4 and 5- to the opposite commutator brush 2 F is the regulator magnet having a shunt coil contained in the circuit 6 extending from the positive to the negative brush of the dynamo. The-magnet also contains a'iew turns of wire in the branch circuit leading to the battery G whereby the action of the coil is slightly modified according to the condition of the battery and the amount of current flowing thereto.

H is the core of the magnet which is of the solenoid type and the core is suspended-horizontally by parallel links J W. The-link J forms one arm of an angle leveroi which the o posite arm J carries the contacts K and 18 the former cooperating with contact K tions of rotation to the motor. :means, according to the greater or less strength. of current-in the shunt coil of the scenes to close the circuit of the motor M through the field magnet f and the latter cooperat- The two field magnet coils are oppositely wound and serve respectively to give opposlte direcmagnet P" (which in turn depends upon the only by reason of a: departure from the norcircuit goes from the commutator brush 2 by the wirei5 and thence through one or the other of the-two sets of contacts, and one or :the other of the two field magnet circuits f f to theco'mmutator of the motor. Thence passes through the centrifugal circuit breaker T (which serves to limit the speed of the motor by the breaking of its circuit when a definite speed is reached) and thence by thewine 10 to-thecommutato'r. brush-1 of the dynamo; .Themotor M rotates the rheostat. contact arm" E by means of a worm and: screw gear andon the-shaft of thesaid contact arm-is a cam disk L and also-a disk. O- carrying rojections R and S. Assuming that the ynamoireaches a given speedcorre ending to say 15' milesiper'hour of the tram, its voltage will then be sufficient to energize theshunt coilof the magnet 1i, whichwill draw its core H, against the force ofv theretractile spring V, and close the contacts K and=K This Willset in motion the motor-M and'thefirst' movement of the rheostat arm will withdraw the stop S from theconnection sWitch-D-and close the main circuit of the dynamo, leading from the commutator brush 1, to deliver current bothto the batteries Gr andto the lampsW in multiple; At the same time-the 'cam L will force down: the shorter arm of the an le-leveri I and increase the tension of spring i/Lthereby slightly increasing the volta c maintained by the magnet F; The stop will also be withdrawn from the spring contact P and close the-circuit ot the motor field magnet coil f leading tothe contact- K Thereafter the parts will continue inoperative condition, and so long as the volta e is .ofthe standard value the magnet E 'wil maintain themotor circuit open; but u on any. tendency to increase or decrease oi the volta e, by reason of an increase ordecrease in t e train speed, the magnet will respond: and

i'ng with the contact K to close the motor :circuit through the field magnet f By this dynamo voltage) the motor circuit is closed at K K or at K K to cause the rotation of athe motor in one direction or the other. W'hen: the voltage is at its normal value the -,magnet holds the contacts K and K out of engagement with either K orK, and. it is close one or the other of the motor'circuits-to' I rgof eration will take place and as the regulating mechanism comes to its final position, shown in the drawings, it will open that circuit of the motor which has 'served to bring it to that position, so that there will be no leakage of battery current through the motor, it will also open the main switchD. a

In the o eration just described it will be manifiest tl iat the action of' the solenoid is necessarily-more or les's'gradual, tending to produce avariable contact ressure between the contacts K K or K 4 which are of carbon, while the gradual separation of the contacts tends to produce an arc asI have already described which, but" for the peculiar construction of-the motor M, would tend to roduce a sto page of the motor before it ad accom lis ed its duty of restoring the voltage to its normal value and allowing the contacts to separate completely. To avoidthis themotor M is so constructed that it will have the maximum tor 'ue required of it at a voltage very materia 1y lower than the normal voltage which the magnet F 2 5 tends to maintain on the main line.

The current from the dynamo divides into two branches at the point 8, the current arriving at this point from the commutator brush '1 bythe way of wire 10 and switch D 0 splitting, one portion oing to battery G through the series vwin 'ng on the magnet and thence b the wire 12 to the opposite commutator brush 2 of the dynamo, while the remaining ortion goes by the wire 14 to 5 rheostat C and thence by the wire 15 to the lamps W, returning to the commutator brush 2 bythe wire 12. serves to reduce the voltage applied to the lamps to a point lower than the -.'voltage apf 4o plied to the battery and the amount of t resistance C is regulated by means ofa magnet F energized by a shunt circuit crossing the lamp mains and controlling motor M in' substantially the same'way that themagnet 5 F controls the motor The. motor M is also constructed to give its maximum torque required byits load at a voltage much lower than that of the lamp circuit by which it is supplied. In this case, both of the motor circuits are ultimately broken at the two ends respectively of the range of movement of the rheostat contact arm. When the rheostat arm comes home to its ofi position, as shown in the drawing, pin 0 strikes the contact spring 0 andopens that circuit ofthe motor which tends to bring the rheostat arm to its home position, while the movement of the rheostat arm in the opposite direction brings the pin 1) against the contact arm 6 in the opposite motor circuit and The resistance C breaks it when the opposite limit of the range of movement of the rheostat arm is reached. By this means the motor is never left in circuit after the travel of the rheostat arm in one direction or the other is completed. p

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a dynamo of a. regulating device therefor, a motor operating said device, contacts in the motor circuit and an operating magnet for said contacts set to act at a voltage greater than that re quired by the motor when exerting the In axi 3. The combination with a variable speed,

dynamo, of a constant otential circuit, a regulatlng device for the ynamo, a motor on said circuit having contacts in series there with and operating the said regulating device at a voltage lower than that of the said circuit by an amount compensating for the contact resistance, and a controlling magnet operating the said contacts. 4;; In a potential-regulator the combination with a magnet responding to the potential to be regulated, of contacts operated by said magnet upona' departure of the voltage from its predetermined value, regulating devices, and an operating motortherefor in serieswith said contacts and adapted to give the maximumftorque; required by the said devices at a voltage lower than the said predetermined volta e.-'

5. In a potential regulator, the combination of. a regulating device, a constant-potential circuit, a motor on said circuit having contacts in seriestherewith and operating said regulating device at a voltage lower than that of the said circuit by an amount com-i pensating for contact resistance, and a magnet on the said circuit responding to the potential thereof and operating the said contacts.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the resence of two subscribing witnesses, the 7t da of July 1905.

JAhIES F. MoELROY. Witnesses:

BEULA-n CABLE, ERNEST D. JANSEN. 

